Victorian Era style architecture was in full swing when Frank Lloyd Wright was born.  Victorian architecture was a mix of previous architectural styles, including Gothic Revival,  Victorian Italianate, and Mansard.  Features of these notably formal styles included arches, pointed windows, and lacy "gingerbread" trim. Some had low roofs, but most had boxy mansard roofs, wide eaves, ornamental brackets, and boxy rooms.  Victorian architecture up to 1870 was thought of by many, especially Europeans, as a failure.  Wright had a critical look of this type of architecture, but did extract some techniques from the architects of the time.

How Wright changed architecture >